Chicago Cubs Draft History By: WISCGRAD
During the 1964 winter meetings, major league teams voted on the draft. Initially four teams opposed the idea, the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, New York Mets, and St. Louis Cardinals. In the end only the Cardinals voted against the proposal and in 1965 Major League Baseball held its inaugural First-Year Player Draft, also known as the Rule 4 Draft. Initially there were three phases to the draft: a June phase for those college and high school athletes who had just graduated, an August Legion phase for those athletes who completed amateur summer leagues, and a January phase for those high school and college athletes who graduated in the winter. The August phase lasted only two years, and the January phase was terminated after 1986.
The Chicago Cubs did not draft a single player in either of the two August drafts, but have participated in each January and June draft since their inception. In analyzing the draft history of the Cubs I have grouped all January and June selections of the same year, following how the data is organized at Baseball Cube. In total there have been 43 distinct draft years for the Chicago Cubs organized by nine different general managers. John Holland presided over the Cubs first 11 drafts. After the brief one-year reign of Salty Saltwell, Bob Kennedy manned the next five drafts, and Dallas Green (1982-1987), Jim Frey (1988-1991), and Larry Himes (1992-1994) followed. The second half of the 1990s was overseen by Ed Lynch. Then after just two years of Andy MacPhail, Jim Hendry took over in 2003 and remains the general manager today.
To date the Cubs have drafted 2,100 players. Many of those went unsigned, and while some were subsequently drafted by other teams and eventually made the big leagues, I only focus on those players actually drafted and signed by the Cubs. Of those, 197, or 9%, have reached the major leagues. Because so many of these major leaguers had short careers, I also noted those players who had significant major league careers, defined as five years or more. 94 players, or 4% of those drafted, fit such a criteria. These numbers will change as those drafted recently begin to reach the major leagues. The Cubs have developed the most big league pitchers compared other positions, although this is not surprising given the composition of major league rosters. What is surprising is the notable success in drafting and developing catchers as compared other positions. The complete positional breakdown is below: Statistically speaking, the 1965, 1967, and 2000 drafts were the best at developing major leaguers with 23%, 21%, and 20% of those players drafted eventually being signed by the Cubs and reaching the big leagues. 2000 and 1967 are also the two best drafts for sheer number of big leaguers produced, with 10 each. Excluding recent drafts for which comparison is relatively meaningless, the worst draft was 1988 where only two of 45 players drafted by Jim Frey were signed by the Cubs and eventually made the big leagues, and neither Jessie Hollins nor Kevin Roberson can be considered a significant major league player. The number of players who were drafted and signed by the Cubs and reached the major leagues is shown below for each draft.
Despite a half-century of mostly mediocre teams, the Cubs have produced a fair amount of major league talent, although without completing a similar analysis of all other major league teams the achievements of the Cubs in the draft cannot be put into proper context. Nevertheless, the following is an All-Star roster of those players drafted and signed by the Cubs who played in the major leagues. Some players may not have played in the big leagues for the Cubs, but they began they were drafted and signed by the Cubs and began their careers in the their farm system.
C Joe Girardi 1-Time All-Star, 1100 Hits in 15 Seasons 1B Mark Grace 3-Time All-Star, 4 Gold Gloves, Career .303 Hitter 2B Scott Fletcher 1376 Hits in 15 Seasons 3B Eric Hinske 2002 Rookie of the Year SS Shawon Dunston 2-Time All-Star, 1597 Hits in 18 Seasons OF Oscar Gamble 1195 Hits in 17 Seasons OF Billy Hatcher 1146 Hits, 218 SB in 12 Seasons OF Joe Carter 5-Time All-Star, 396 HR, 1445 RBI, 2184 Hits, 231 SB DH Rafael Palmeiro 4-Time All-Star, 4 Gold Gloves, 569 HR, 1835 RBI
BN Roger Metzger 1 Gold Glove in 10 Seasons BN Rich Amaral Career .276 Hitter Over 10 Seasons as Part-Time Player BN Corey Patterson 821 Hits, 98 HR, 173 SB in First 9 Seasons BN Mel Hall 1171 Hits Over 13 Seasons SP Greg Maddux 8-Time All-Star, 4 Cy Youngs, 350 Wins, 3.12 ERA in 23 Seasons SP Joe Niekro 1-Time All-Star, 221 Wins, 3.59 ERA in 22 Seasons SP Rick Reuschel 3-Time All-Star, 214 Wins, 3.37 ERA in 20 Seasons SP Ken Holtzman 2-Time All-Star, 174 Wins, 3.49 ERA in 15 Seasons SP Burt Hooton 1-Time All-Star, 151 Wins, 3.38 ERA in 15 Seasons
CL Lee Smith 478 Saves, 3.03 ERA in 18 Seasons P Jamie Moyer 1-Time All-Star, 232 Wins, 4.22 ERA in 22 Seasons P Larry Gura 1-Time All-Star, 126 Wins, 3.76 ERA in 16 Seasons P Mike Krukow 124 Wins, 3.74 ERA in 14 Seasons P Craig Lefferts 101 Saves, 3.43 ERA in 12 Seasons P Dennis Lamp 3.93 ERA in 1830 Innings as a Reliever P Steve Trachsel 143 Wins, 4.35 ERA in 16 Seasons
Other Notables from Recent Drafts
C Geovany Soto C Jose Molina 2B Brendan Harris SS Ryan Theriot SP Jon Garland SP Dontrelle Willis SP Rich Hill SP Mark Prior SP Kyle Lohse SP Todd Wellemyer SP Sergio Mitre SP Ricky Nolasco SP Sean Marshall SP Sean Gallagher
CL Kerry Wood RP Kyle Farnsworth RP Scott Downs RP Will Ohman RP Michael Wuertz RP Andy Sisco RP Justin Speier
A complete listing of all players who reached the major leagues who were drafted and signed by the Chicago Cubs from 1965-present can be found below. Each player’s position is noted, as well as his years of major league experience and the general manager who drafted him.
Years of MLB Year Player Position GM Experience
1965 Ken Holtzman P 15 John Holland
1965 Joe Decker P 11 John Holland
1965 Ken Rudolph C 9 John Holland
1965 Garry Jestadt SS 4 John Holland
1965 Jim Williams OF 2 John Holland
1965 Johnny Hairston C 1 John Holland
1965 Rick James P 1 John Holland
1966 Joe Niekro P 22 John Holland
1966 Bill Stoneman P 8 John Holland
1966 Archie Reynolds P 5 John Holland
1966 Jophery Brown P 1 John Holland 1967 Gary Ross P 10 John Holland
1967 Earl Stephenson P 8 John Holland
1967 Terry Hughes SS 5 John Holland
1967 Randy Bobb C 2 John Holland
1967 Jimmy McMath OF 1 John Holland
1967 Gary Lance P 1 John Holland
1967 Darcy Fast P 1 John Holland
1967 Alex Distaso P 1 John Holland
1967 Jim Dunegan P 1 John Holland
1967 Pat Jacquez P 1 John Holland
1968 Oscar Gamble OF 16 John Holland
1968 Matt Alexander 3B 9 John Holland
1968 Rich Nye OF 5 John Holland
1968 Paul Reuschel P 5 John Holland
1968 Dave Lemonds P 4 John Holland
1968 Chris Ward OF 3 John Holland
1969 Larry Gura P 16 John Holland
1969 Billy North OF 11 John Holland
1969 Roger Metzger SS 11 John Holland
1969 Pat Bourque OF 4 John Holland
1969 Jim Johnson 3B 1 John Holland
1970 Rick Reuschel P 20 John Holland
1970 Pete LaCock 1B 9 John Holland 1970 Gene Hiser OF 5 John Holland
1970 Tom Lundstedt C 3 John Holland
1971 Dennis Lamp P 16 John Holland
1971 Burt Hooton P 15 John Holland
1971 Jim Tyrone OF 6 John Holland
1971 Rob Sperring 3B 4 John Holland
1972 Ray Burris P 15 John Holland
1972 Buddy Schultz P 5 John Holland
1972 Mike Gordon C 2 John Holland
1973 Mike Krukow P 14 John Holland
1973 Dave Geisel P 8 John Holland
1973 Joe Wallis OF 5 John Holland
1973 Jerry Tabb 1B 3 John Holland
1974 Scot Thompson OF 8 John Holland
1974 George Riley P 8 John Holland
1974 Mike Sember SS 2 John Holland
1975 Lee Smith P 18 John Holland
1975 Mike Anderson C 9 John Holland
1975 Ed Putnam C 4 John Holland
1976 Ron Davis P 11 Salty Saltwell
1976 Karl Pagel 1B 6 Salty Saltwell
1976 Keith Drumright 2B 4 Salty Saltwell
1976 Greg Keatley C 1 Salty Saltwell 1976 Herman Seqelke P 1 Salty Saltwell
1976 Kurt Seibert SS 1 Salty Saltwell
1976 Steve Davis SS 1 Salty Saltwell
1977 Dan Rohn 2B 4 Bob Kennedy
1977 Randy Martz P 4 Bob Kennedy
1977 Steve Macko 3B 2 Bob Kennedy
1977 Jim Tracy OF 2 Bob Kennedy
1978 Mel Hall OF 16 Bob Kennedy
1978 Bill Hayes C 2 Bob Kennedy
1978 Mark Gilbert OF 1 Bob Kennedy
1979 Scott Fletcher SS 15 Bob Kennedy
1979 Mark Huismann P 9 Bob Kennedy
1979 Dave Owen SS 6 Bob Kennedy
1979 Jon Perlman P 4 Bob Kennedy
1979 Ray Soff P 2 Bob Kennedy
1979 Tom Grant OF 1 Bob Kennedy
1980 Craig Lefferts P 12 Bob Kennedy
1980 Don Schulze P 6 Bob Kennedy
1980 Frtizie Connally 3B 3 Bob Kennedy
1981 Joe Carter OF 16 Bob Kennedy
1981 Darrin Jackson OF 15 Bob Kennedy
1981 Billy Hatcher OF 12 Bob Kennedy
1981 Vance Lovelace P 3 Bob Kennedy 1982 Shawon Dunston SS 18 Dallas Green
1982 Gary Varsho 2B 8 Dallas Green
1982 Jeff Schwarz P 2 Dallas Green
1982 Jamie Allen 1B 1 Dallas Green
1983 Rich Amaral 2B 10 Dallas Green
1983 Jacob Brumfield OF 8 Dallas Green
1983 Mike Capel P 4 Dallas Green
1983 Steve Engel P 1 Dallas Green
1984 Greg Maddux P 22* Dallas Green
1984 Jamie Moyer P 22* Dallas Green
1984 Damon Berryhill C 11 Dallas Green
1984 Dwight Smith OF 8 Dallas Green
1984 Drew Hall P 5 Dallas Green
1984 Jeff Pico P 3 Dallas Green
1984 Greg Liddell OF 1 Dallas Green
1984 Laddie Renfroe P 1 Dallas Green
1985 Rafael Palmeiro 1B 20 Dallas Green
1985 Mark Grace 1B 16 Dallas Green
1985 Doug Dascenzo OF 9 Dallas Green
1985 Rick Wrona C 7 Dallas Green
1985 Kelly Mann C 2 Dallas Green
1985 Joe Kraemer P 2 Dallas Green
1986 Joe Girardi C 15 Dallas Green 1986 Rick Wilkins C 11 Dallas Green
1986 Derrick May OF 10 Dallas Green
1986 Jerome Walton OF 10 Dallas Green
1986 Shawn Boskie P 9 Dallas Green
1986 Jim Bullinger P 7 Dallas Green
1986 Pat Gomez P 3 Dallas Green
1986 Ken Ramos OF 1 Dallas Green
1987 Alex Arias 3B 11 Dallas Green
1987 Matt Walbeck C 11 Dallas Green
1987 Mike Harkey P 10 Dallas Green
1987 Matt Franco 3B 9 Dallas Green
1987 Tom Thobe P 2 Dallas Green
Fernando 1987 OF 1 Dallas Green Ramsey
1988 Kevin Roberson OF 4 Jim Frey
1988 Jessie Hollins P 1 Jim Frey
1989 Dave Stevens P 7 Jim Frey
Dave 1989 P 3 Jim Frey Swartzbaugh
1989 Gary Scott 3B 2 Jim Frey
1990 Pedro Valdes P 5 Jim Frey
1990 Lance Dickson P 1 Jim Frey
1990 Ryan Hawblitzel P 1 Jim Frey
1991 Steve Traschel P 15* Jim Frey 1991 Terry Adams P 11 Jim Frey
1991 Doug Glanville OF 9 Jim Frey
1991 Ozzie Timmons OF 6 Jim Frey
1991 Robin Jennings OF 6 Jim Frey
1992 Luis Matos P 7 Larry Himes
1992 Mike Hubbard C 6 Larry Himes
1992 Brant Brown OF 5 Larry Himes
1992 Kennie Steenstra P 1 Larry Himes
1992 Chris Petersen SS 1 Larry Himes
1993 Jose Molina C 9* Larry Himes
1993 Brooks Kieshnick P-OF 9 Larry Himes
1993 Kevin Orie 3B 6 Larry Himes
1993 Jason Maxwell SS 4 Larry Himes
1993 Bo Porter OF 3 Larry Himes
1993 Steve Rain P 2 Larry Himes
1993 Jon Ratliff P 1 Larry Himes
1994 Kyle Farnsworth P 9* Larry Himes
1994 Javier Martinez P 1 Larry Himes
1994 Richie Barker P 1 Larry Himes
1994 Matt Williams P 1 Larry Himes
1995 Chris Booker P 3* Ed Lynch
1995 Kerry Wood P 10* Ed Lynch
1995 Justin Speier P 10* Ed Lynch 1995 Brian McNichol P 1 Ed Lynch
1995 Ismael Villegas P 1 Ed Lynch
1996 Kyle Lohse P 7* Ed Lynch
1996 Chad Myers 2B-OF 5 Ed Lynch
1996 Phil Norton P 5 Ed Lynch
1996 Courtney Duncan P 2 Ed Lynch
1996 Chris Gissell P 1 Ed Lynch
1997 Jon Garland P 8* Ed Lynch
1997 Scott Downs P 8* Ed Lynch
1997 Mike Wuertz P 4* Ed Lynch
1997 Randy Williams P 2 Ed Lynch
1997 Nate Tuet P 1 Ed Lynch
1997 Chris Piersoll P 1 Ed Lynch
1998 Corey Patterson OF 8* Ed Lynch
1998 Will Ohman P 8* Ed Lynch
1998 Eric Hinske 3B 6* Ed Lynch
1998 Dave Kelton 3B 2* Ed Lynch
1999 Ray Sadler OF 1* Ed Lynch
1999 John Webb P 2 Ed Lynch
1999 Peter Zoccolillo OF 1 Ed Lynch
1999 Steve Smyth P 1 Ed Lynch
2000 Todd Wellemeyer P 5* Ed Lynch
2000 Dontrelle Willis P 5* Ed Lynch 2000 Bobby Hill 2B 4* Ed Lynch
2000 Jon Leicester P 4* Ed Lynch
2000 Ryan Jorgenson C 3* Ed Lynch
2000 Jason Dubois OF 2* Ed Lynch
2000 Buck Coats OF 2* Ed Lynch
Carmen 2000 P 1* Ed Lynch Pignatello
2000 Larry Barnes 1B 3 Ed Lynch
2000 Jason Szuminski P 1 Ed Lynch
Andy 2001 Mark Prior P 5* MacPhail
Andy 2001 Sergio Mitre P 5* MacPhail
Andy 2001 Brendan Harris 2B 4* MacPhail
Andy 2001 Geovany Soto C 3* MacPhail
Andy 2001 Andy Sisco P 3* MacPhail
Andy 2001 Ryan Theriot SS 3* MacPhail
Andy 2001 Rickey Nolasco P 2* MacPhail
Andy 2002 Rich Hill P 3* MacPhail
Andy 2002 Adam Greenberg OF 1* MacPhail Andy 2002 Billy Petrick P 1* MacPhail
Andy 2002 Rocky Cherry P 1* MacPhail
2003 Sean Marshall P 2* Jim Hendry
2003 Jake Fox 1B 1* Jim Hendry
2004 Eric Patterson 2B 1* Jim Hendry
2004 Sam Fuld OF 1* Jim Hendry
2004 Sean Gallagher P 1* Jim Hendry
2004 Jerry Blevins P 1* Jim Hendry
*=Still Active